Library Listing

Courage on the Mountain by George Reischling

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Author's Synopsis

Projecting skyward ominously 3200 feet above the surrounding flat jungle terrain towered a solitary goliath of a mountain shrouded with an ancient mystical legend and now an enemy stronghold. Nui Ba Dien or the “Black Virgin Mountain” served as a major staging area for the last finger of the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail as it crossed the Cambodian border just a few miles to the West. Honeycombed with hundreds of caves and fortified with elite NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, she stood as a “Thorn in the Side” of American military control of the region. The 25th Infantry Division held a communication site on her highest peak and also the land encircling her base, but her slopes were voraciously defended by large numbers of elite enemy soldiers. Anytime any American unit undertook to engage her slopes, a hellacious battle was guaranteed with the “Angel of Death” always hovering near!

These memoirs illuminate more than just the courage of battle but also the courage and inner strength that the soldiers of Vietnam had to shoulder upon their return home. Courage and dignity qualify all Vietnam Veterans such that the country that at one time turned their back on them now holds them in high esteem. This is my story, start to finish and it was written to enlighten the reader to a greater understanding of the American men and women and their struggles for survival in America’s most unpopular war!

Format(s) for review: Kindle Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 422

Walking on the Sea of Clouds by Gray Rinehart

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Author's Synopsis

Before permanent lunar encampments such as Clarke’s Clavius Base (in 2001: A Space Odyssey) or Heinlein’s Luna City (in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress) could be built, there would have to be the first settlers—the first people to set up shop and try to eke out an existence on the Moon. Walking on the Sea of Clouds is the story of such lunar pioneers: two couples, Stormie and Frank Pastorelli and Van and Barbara Richards, determined to survive and succeed in this near-future technological drama about the risks people will take, the emergencies they’ll face, and the sacrifices they’ll make as members of the first commercial lunar colony. In the end, one will decide to leave, one will decide to stay, one will put off deciding … and one will decide to die so another can live.

Genre(s): Fiction, Fantasy/Sci Fi/Horror

Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0-9982092-6-5, 978-0-9982092-7-2, 978-0-9982092-8-9, B07P682ZJW

Nightmares in Green by Dale Kelley

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Author's Synopsis

The darkest dreams meet the light of day.

It’s 1968. Sean Hurley is a hot-headed platoon leader deep in the jungles of Vietnam. This immersive novel brings you betrayals, friends killed in action, and an unexpected spy to keep you guessing rings up to the end.

Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Format(s): Soft cover, ePub/iBook

ISBN/ASIN: 9798334347021

An Absence of Faith: A Tale of Afghanistan by Craig Trebilcock

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MWSA Review Pending

 

Author's Synopsis

An Absence of Faith: A Tale of Afghanistan is the story of Daniyal, a Kabul University student kidnapped into the Afghan army where he is caught up in a vast criminal conspiracy to steal Western military aid. The story takes the reader into the heart of the Afghanistan war, where Afghan soldiers are daily brutalized and their food and medicine are sold by their generals for their personal profit.. While Daniyal struggles to survive, Colonel William Trevanathan, U.S. Army, is given the mission to stop Afghan corruption to convince NATO allies not to abandon an increasingly unpopular war. Both Daniyal and Trevanathan struggle to maintain their humanity and principles amidst a conflict where your ally is your enemy and the strong prey upon the weak. An insightful view into how Afghan corruption, Western bureaucratic infighting, and a lack of accountability over billions in Western aid money paved the way for the return of the Taliban.

Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 392

Word Count: 112374

Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam by Charles Templeton

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Author's Synopsis

The true test for surviving war lies in the mind, not on the battlefield. Inspired by the author’s own experiences of US military operations during the Vietnam War. Boot is a debut literary novel that became an Amazon Best Seller on July 21, 2020 and was an Award Winning Finalist in the Best New Fiction category of the 2020 International Book Awards. Boot charts the journey of Marine George Orwell Hill, known affectionately as G. O. by his brothers-in-arms, as he comes to grips with the psychological impacts of war in the jungles and rice paddies of Southeast Asia. Faced with military life ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, G. O. must navigate the absurdity of warfare and suppress his humanity to survive psychologically. The war challenges his presuppositions—about the world, about life, about himself—as soon as he lands in Vietnam. And his pondering deep questions about humanity becomes a fruitless task in a situation forcing him to accept life for what it is in every gory, absurd detail. Boot is a credible contribution to new literary fiction about the Vietnam War, combining satire and psychology in historical fiction.

Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, History, Memoir

Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook

The Scarlet Oak by Jerry Aylward

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Author's Synopsis

Murder, Spies, and Spirits will take you on a historic time travel journey back to the American Revolution to General Washington's Culper Spy ring to reveal Washington's first female spy, code-named # 355, who has successfully prevented the brutal British Colonel John G. Simcoe from collaborating with Benedict Arnold to turn West Point over to the British.

Genre(s):

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Format(s):

Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook

The Art of War Plus The Art of Politics: Strategy for Campaigns: Special 10th Anniversary Edition by Shawn R. Frost, Sun Tzu, Gary Gagliardi (translator)

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Author's Synopsis

A winning playbook ten years in the making!

Why did we write this book? After avoiding political involvement for decades, I got frustrated and had an axe to grind and needed a practical guide to winning in politics for non-political-science-majors. That book didn’t exist, so we wrote it.

We first published much of this book in 2014 before Shawn's SUCCESSFUL run for School Board. He defeated a two-term incumbent, named Disney, who was the President of the State School Board Association. When Frost beat Disney by almost 10 points, local journalist Russ Lemmon referred to it as a "Shocking" victory and spent several column inches of front page real estate speculating on how a first time candidate beat a powerhouse named Disney. We knew it boiled down to two words: Better Strategy.

Reasons to buy this book: You want to WIN

"All of Politics is Local, but the science of strategy (winning) is universal and timeless."- Political Sun Tzu™

You want to sharpen the most powerful weapon in any contest, the human mind.

If your opponent reads this book, and you don't, it's over for your campaign

You want to follow in the path of a consultant with an almost 94% win rate over 5 cycles

Here’s what’s different about this book: This builds on The Art of War plus the Art of Politics: Strategy for Campaigns by Gagliardi and Frost (2014) by adding an epilogue by Frost "10 years on the front lines of politics and the culture wars", Political Sun Tzu Key Concepts throughout, and End of Chapter Summaries to highlight key points from the past 10 years on the political battlefield and hard-won lessons.

This book is two books in one: on the left hand page is Gary Gagliardi's award winning translation of Sun Tzu's Bing Fa (Chinese) as The Art of War (English) and the facing page is the political interpretation. Much of this book was first published as “Sun Tzu’s Art of War plus the Art of Politics: Strategy for Campaigns” Feb 10, 2014, ISBN: 9781929194728

Does this book even work? Yes, it absolutely does. When we wrote this book, I hadn’t even been a candidate, let alone an award-winning political consultant and campaign educator and it delivered massive wins for me and our clients. This is the guidebook used to help shape the political landscape in Florida since 2014. The primary author, Shawn R. Frost, has used this book to get bills passed, candidates elected, and help launch political committees and movements.

The updates in this Special 10th Anniversary Edition add to that winning formula.

Frost's former clients, friends and colleagues regularly appear on FoxNews, NewsMax, OANN, Daily Wire, CNN, MSNBC, and in print everywhere. He considers himself to be a slightly smarter version of Forrest Gump in that he has had a front row seat to history. All because he mastered the mindset and skills contained in this book, and the courses at Science of Strategy Institute and he practiced and refined them at his consulting firm, MVP Strategy and Policy LLC.

That's the thing about good strategy, it is universal in its effectiveness and timeless in its influence.

We can’t promise you will win 93% of the time like Frost did, but reading this book moves you in the right direction. You will know how to win your campaign, see a loss coming sooner, or win eventually by advancing your strategic position through a winning or losing campaign over time.

Read this book again and again, to sharpen your mind like a sword, until winning becomes an instinct.

NOTE: A nearly identical version of this book was also published as "Political Art of War: Winning Strategy for Local Campaigns" ISBN:979-8883734686 and ASIN: B0CXCCMNMH on Kindle. Readers are advised that these are essentially the same books with minor layout and design variations

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—How to/Business

Number of Pages: 237

Word Count: 46,194


Crow Wisdom: A Seasonal Journey by Jasmine Tritten & Wanda Jerome

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Author's Synopsis

Crows have symbolic meanings in many cultures. Incredibly smart, these birds carve a unique place between the natural and spiritual worlds. They fly into our lives and communicate important insights as harbingers of change to come. In homage to the family of corvids – especially crows – we compiled this collection of uplifting poetry, photography and artwork to shed light on their unique contributions to our human experience here on earth. We hope you enjoy this book and crows find their way to you when you need them.

Genre(s): Religious/Spiritual, Poetry Book, Picture Book

Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

WWII Letters and Records of Ellsworth A. Westgate by Frank Westgate

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Author's Synopsis

WWII Letters that where written and sent home to Ellsworth Grandparents Some our more readable that others. I took Dads Letters page by page in order and tried to type out in an alternate letter as close as possible to the original. Both will be attached in order.

Genre(s): Memoir

Format(s): Soft cover


Saigon Nights: The Elephant in the Room by David S. Lewis

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MWSA Review Pending

 

Author's Synopsis

This story follows Tom Grey, a Vietnam War Veteran and free-lance newspaper reporter, as he uncovers a smuggling ring that includes the trafficking of young women from Vietnam to the United States.The story begins in 1973 Los Angeles, and takes Grey back to Saigon, South Vietnam. It is a world fulll of treachery and deceit before there were cell phones or the Internet. It is a world where nearly everyone smokes.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller/Crime

Number of Pages: 259

Word Count: 72,647

Warrior Dogs by LTC (ret) Richard A. Vargus

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Author's Synopsis

The unvarnished story of military working dogs. The hero handlers and their dogs throughout history, especially their impact in Iraq and Afghanistan during Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Bringing to the forefront the challenges and tunnel vision by Pentagon bureaucrats in projecting the MWD platform. It's the true story of the author's experiences during his years at US Central Command, and the Pentagon as the Army and DoD MWD Program Manager.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 202

Word Count: 102,614


The Secrets of St. Edmond's Terrace by John Wyle

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Author's Synopsis

This story takes place in and around St. Edmond’s Terrace, an independent living facility for seniors. Unbeknownst to the residents, Atlanta’s notorious madam, disguised and using an alias, is also a new resident hiding in their midst. The “madam”, frequently reported in the local news, becomes the best friend of her next-door neighbor, a retired architect and recent widower. Meanwhile, the Republican governor, up for re-election and anxious to avoid an “October surprise,” along with the Democrats, are each desperately wanting to acquire the madam’s “little black book.” When the architect’s daughter announces her engagement to the son of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the architect’s new lady friend volunteers to help plan the wedding, only to discover the guest list will also include the President and First Lady of the United States. The groom, having served as the, then, Vice President’s aide-de-camp, is now a personal friend of the newly elected President and a regular on the White House basketball court.

This madcap tale of life at the Terrace—with gossip spreading rumors among the ladies, the men’s club buzzing with talk of sports at one end and politics at the other, and many of its residents serving on the “Wedding Brigade”— moves from one adventure to another as the Director of Security works to solve the mystery of who the new lady resident might actually be. Finally, all hell breaks loose at the wedding reception, only to end with the secrets of St. Edmond’s Terrace revealed.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Other—Humor

Number of Pages: 234

Word Count: 60,852


Cobalt: The Rise and Fall of the Great Reset by Travis Davis

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Author's Synopsis

After China’s discovery of a rare form of Cobalt located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all the pieces and players are now in place for the Great Reset. The United States must be brought to its knees at all costs. The only thing standing in their vision of a perfect world order is a determined CIA agent, Mary, and Team Texarkana, comprised of Tex, Will, Kim, and Lucy. If they fail, the world will never recover. There is no turning back. Civilization is at stake; The Great Reset must be stopped before it’s too late.

Format(s) for review: Kindle or Paper

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller/Crime

Number of Pages: 294

Word Count: 88,000


Rosie's Sweat Box by David Rozzell

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Author's Synopsis

Grady Rozzell at age 19 was a B-17 pilot in the 401st Bomb Group operating out of Deenethorpe Army Air Base. On Friday, May 30, 1944, Grady and his crew made their first combat mission. Their target was an airplane factory in Oschersleben, Germany. Highlights from his diary tell this story.

This is his first diary entry:

10:26 . . . Over to the left front, a patch of sky is literally filled with black crust; that’s flack, my first sight of the dreaded flack I’ve heard so much about. 11:30 . . . We’ve just been attacked by enemy fighters. Those babies came within a few hundred feet of our plane and not one of my gunners shot at the fighters. Too excited to do anything but gape—and gape they did. The fighters got the ship directly behind me. I looked back in time to see the big bird go into a vertical climb and spin-off on one wing. I saw two chutes pop and stretch out their lazy canopies. There’s eight more men in that plane. Off to the left and lower is a crippled B-17 trying to fight its way home. . . . There’s about five fighters making swift passes at the ship, trying to knock it down. They look like vultures gathering around, ready for the kill.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 249

Word Count:


After Lisa by Joe Pace

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Author's Synopsis

When Andy Chester loses his thirtysomething wife Lisa to breast cancer, it doesn’t take long for his world to fall apart. His business teeters on the edge of financial ruin. His overbearing father-in-law is convinced Andy is unfit to raise his young son and daughter alone. Adrift in a world he struggles to navigate without his beloved Lisa, Andy begins a grief journey with no certain destination.

Even as he spirals into despair, Andy’s eclectic network of support tries to help. Buddy Cormier, a French Canadian-Mik’Maq womanizer from the Maine backwoods and Andy’s best friend. The Narwhal, a legendary comic-book and tabletop role-playing game personality from whom Andy inherited his Olympia hobby shop. Andy’s alcoholic sister Nan, a San Francisco art dealer and adoptive lesbian mother.

Despite their efforts, Andy confronts the possibility that whether or not there’s life after death, there may be no life After Lisa.

Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 252

Word Count: 90,000

Unaccounted by Michael McDonald-Low

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Author's Synopsis

The Vietnam War was an ugly, brutal conflict that ended lives and tortured its survivors. Nobody knows that better than the infantry grunts who served in northern I Corp - Que Son Valley area of operations. More U.S. Army infantrymen and Marines died there than at any other location in Vietnam. More medals for heroism were awarded in this region than in any other single combat location. On 5 May 1968, the downing of two helicopters in the Que Son Valley marked the beginning of the North Vietnamese Army’s second Tet offensive and their goal of destroying all U.S. forces. At 1728 hours, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry conducted a combat air assault to join Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry at the helicopters fatally downed location. During the next six days, their experiences would set the stage for a three-month-long battle that lasted only hours for some. In the end, there would be more than 2,300 dead and wounded, and one American soldier missing in action. It will take over 44 years to find his location. UNACCOUNTED is his story.

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

ISBN/ASIN:B092XFBQNM, B092WTK254

Pearl Harbor: Remembering How We Served and Survived by MS2 Shannon R. Cooper, USNR (Ret.)

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Author's Synopsis

This book is a collection of personal Pearl Harbor stories from actual survivors of Pearl Harbor to stories from the families of those who were at Pearl Harbor during the attack. It contains an accurate account of events as they took place on the fateful day of December 7, 1941.

Included in the book is a minute by minute account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. There is information gathered from individual interviews of survivors and their families. These interviews give the readers a personal connection with the survivors and their families.

In reading the book, the readers will gather a true account and connection with those who survived. It will also give a better understanding of what truly took place on December 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 179

Word Count: 38322


The Quietude of Calvary, Second Edition by Jamison Whiteman

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Author's Synopsis

Murray Edgeton, the most brilliant physicist in at least three generations believes in nothing but quantifiable and provable science. His life's work is to expand upon Einstein's theory of relativity and in doing so he unlocks the secrets of the space-time continuum. Demonstrating that access to wormholes and space-time curves is possible, he sends a select team of U.S. Military Special Operators from the present time to First Century Judea. Their mission, based upon a closely held secret that Murray has been harboring his entire life, is to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was simply an itinerant preacher from the backwaters of Galilee and did not in fact rise from the dead on the third day. The time travel team makes a shocking discovery of their own on the hill of Calvary and return home to present their findings to an unbelieving world.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Horror/Fantasy/Sci Fi

Number of Pages: 196

Word Count: 66,720


Congratulations, Your Daughter is Engaged. Now What? A Father's Emotional Survival Guide by Kenneth Andrus

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Author's Synopsis

Congratulations, Dad. You just learned your daughter is engaged. Another innocent is going down the aisle. But what you likely don't understand, it's not just your daughter who is about to proceed on the perilous journey, it's you. In A Fathers Emotional Survival Guide, the author explores the complex interplay of a father's emotions as he escorts his daughter down the aisle and offers advice on how to transition to a new chapter in his life.

Number of Pages: 84

From CO to CEO: A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership by William Toti by

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Author's Synopsis

In From CO to CEO: A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership, William J. Toti, former CO of the nuclear submarine USS Indianapolis and former CEO of Sparton Corporation, offers a seminal manual for service members transitioning to civilian careers and navigating their rise up the corporate ladder.

Genre(s): Nonfiction, Reference

Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-63763-063-1, 978-1-63763-064-8x

Number of Pages: 272